L. Roane Hunt and the Gloucester Genealogical Society of Virginia have also provided us with a new edition (2011) of the 1782-1791 tax records–Volume 1 of a series of books that will provide both personal property and land tax rolls through 1870.
Volume 1 includes the first ten years when Gloucester County included Mathews County as Kingston Parish. As each additional segment is completed, the entries will be posted on the Gloucester Society website:
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~vaggsv/index.htm
As well as published in book form.
The original tax records are also available for loan on microfilm through the Library of Virginia, Richmond VA and the Family History Library, Salt Lake City UT. And the original pages are housed in the Archive Room of the Gloucester Museum of History, Gloucester VA available by appointment. However, the reconstruction and restoration are only present in the printed edition of Volume 1.
Author Hunt indicates that Gloucester County’s surviving records include just these tax rolls, court minutes, and land surveys. So we can hope that when the tax records project is completed, he and his group will provide indexed transcripts of the land surveys as well. Surveys are among the most significant land records we have for Virginia–they show actual parcels of land with neighbors and proximity to related families as well as geographical features needed to place the holdings on the ground.
The surveys, too, also include substantial gaps with damaged and missing pages. They were microfilmed in 1947 and 1977 by the Family History Library from originals and photostats at the Library of Virginia and at the courthouse in Gloucester. Some records were made by Circuit Court clerks.
Here is the description from the current Family History Library Catalog (“previous” or Classic Catalog):
Using the land tax rolls and the surveys together, genealogists can re-build the property holdings of much of Gloucester County. So we are especially grateful to the Gloucester Genealogical Society and its members for funding these projects. Your favorite genealogist, Arlene Eakle http://arleneeakle.com